Pen prohibits Playboy, Penthouse

FRASER Coast prisoners could be in for a hard time as the State Government has banned pornographic magazines from prisons across the state.

Ross McSwain, Director of the Office of the Commissioner for Queensland Corrective Services, confirmed inmates of the Maryborough Correctional Centre would no longer have access to porn while serving time.

“The magazines Playboy and Penthouse had been available for prisoners to purchase,” Mr McSwain said.

“This has now ceased.”

The crackdown came about after a review this month on the types of magazines available for prisoners.

While X-rated material has long been banned from all jails in Queensland, the review found that MA-rated magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse and People were all accessible by prisoners.

Until now, Maryborough inmates were allowed to buy the magazines – which are legally available in a newsagent to anyone 15 years and over – via the prison shopping lists.

Prisons Minister Neil Roberts said that prior to the review there was no consistent policy on the material which covered every prison in the state.

Mr Roberts also said movies with “high levels of sexual content or violence” would also be banned across the state prisons, although there was no information on whether these had also been available in the Maryborough Correctional Centre.

Mr McSwain offered no comment on whether the magazines were originally available to help improve inmate behaviour, or what the likely reaction would be from the prisoners after they were deprived of the material.